Russia has accused Ukraine of flying attack helicopters across the border to target an oil storage facility, marking the first incursion on Russian land since the war began.
Ukraine has not verified that it was the perpetrator of the strike, increasing concerns about Russian negligence.
Early on Friday, April 1, two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters entered the country at low altitude before firing missiles at an oil complex, 25 miles from the border, according to a Russian governor in the border region of Belgorod.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, told Reuters that he couldn’t confirm or refute rumors of Ukrainian involvement in the strike because he has not gotten military information. An attempt to get comments from the Ukrainian defense ministry was unfruitful.
According to several notable Ukrainian pundits, the attack could be a “false flag” operation intended to justify Russian mobilization or sabotage negotiations.
Dmitri Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, fuelled such rumors on Friday by saying the strike may stymie negotiations, though he stopped short of outlining any concrete reaction to the claimed attack.
He said, “What has happened is certainly not something that can be perceived as creating conditions comfortable for the continuation of negotiations.”
On Friday, a video released on social media appeared to show a helicopter strike with air-to-ground missiles followed by a massive fire at a factory in Belgorod, with flames rising dozens of meters into the air.
According to reports, the factory burned until noon on Friday, with dozens of firefighters dispatched to put out the fire.
A few more videos showed helicopters from both Ukraine and Russia flying in the area.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod said, “The fire at the oil depot occurred as a result of an airstrike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine, which entered the territory of Russia at low altitude. There are no victims.”
